Message

Welcome to the Animal Ecology Laboratory! Our research interests are in evolution of animal behavior. We will use traditional behavioral study methods such as filed observation and aquarium experiments, as well as using the latest techniques for molecular biology to approach wonders of animal behavior.

Research Theme

1. Diversity of mating patterns and sex roles in Syngnathid fishes
Specific projects include:

• Intraspecific geographical variation in mating pattern
• Behavioral genomics of pair-bonding in a monogamous pipefish
• Polyandrous mating and sex-role reversal in a seagrass-dwelling pipefish
• Phylogenetic constraints on mating pattern in syngnathids

2. Cognitive capacity and social behavior in teleost fishes
Specific projects include:

• Individual recognition and adaptive behavioral adjustments in a gobiid fish
• Effects of familiarity on social learning in group-living fishes
• Partner recognition in a monogamous pipefish
• Cleaning symbiosis between a facultative cleaner and client

3. Other research projects

• Genetic population structure of endangered fishes
• Origin and diversification of parasitic isopods
• Application of environmental DNA techniques for fisheries resources management

Education & Appointments

Hata, H., Sogabe, A., Tada, S., Nishimoto, R., Nakano, R., Kohya, N., Takeshima, H. & Kawanishi, R. (2017) Molecular phylogeny of obligate fish parasites of the family Cymothoidae (Isopoda, Crustacea): Evolution of the attachment mode to host fish and the habitat shift from saline water to freshwater. Marine Biology 164: 105.

Sogabe, A., Hamaoka, H., Fukuta, A., Shibata, H., Shoji, J. & Omori, K. (2017) Application of stable isotope analysis for detecting filial cannibalism. Behavioural Processes 140: 16-18.

Kawanishi, R., Sogabe, A., Nishimoto, R. & Hata, H. (2016) Spatial variation in the parasitic isopod load of the Japanese halfbeak in western Japan. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 122: 13-19.

Hamaoka, H., Sogabe, A. & Omori, K. (2016) Spatial variation of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in Japanese anchovy, Engraulis japonicas, in the eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Aquaculture Science 64: 333-338.

Tsuboi, M., Shoji, J., Sogabe, A., Ahnesjö, I. & Kolm, N. (2016) Within species support for the expensive tissue hypothesis: a negative association between brain size and visceral fat storage in females of a Pacific seaweed pipefish. Ecology and Evolution 6: 647-655.

Tue, N. T., Hamaoka, H., Sogabe, A., Quy, T. D., Nhuan, M. T. & Omori, K. (2016) Dual isotope study of food source of a fish assemblage in the Red River mangrove ecosystem Vietnam. Hydrobiologia 73: 71-83.

Sogabe, A., Takata, H. & Kato, S. (2014) Estimating the mode of egg production in the spotted seahorse Hippocampus kuda to establish efficient captive breeding conditions. Aquaculture Science 62: 199-201.

Publications

2008 – 2009 Global COE Research Fellow at Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University

2009 – 2012 JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University

2012 – 2015 Assistant Professor at Center for Marine Biology, Asamushi, Tohoku University

2015 – 2017 Assistant Professor at Faculty of Agriculture and Life science, Hirosaki University

2017 – Associate Professor at Faculty of Agriculture and Life science, Hirosaki University

Laboratory

You are welcome to visit the laboratory at any time.

Please contact: atsushi.sogabe@hirosaki-u.ac.jp